EvanL
08-11-2005, 06:49 PM
William Lin Sound Off
The Edmonton Journal
Thursday, August 11, 2005
EDMONTON - When 10 Alberta cities simultaneously launch fireworks Sept. 1 to mark the province's 100th birthday, the International Space Station may have about two minutes to properly film the display, astronomers say.
The success of the proposed project depends on timing, weather conditions and the position of the space station, say NASA and Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield. "You would have to be lucky on the timing of it," said Hadfield, the first Canadian to walk in space.
"The space station flashes across Alberta very quickly."
Community Development Minister Gary Mar announced last month the province is negotiating with NASA to broadcast the display from station cameras as part of centennial celebrations.
Based on preliminary calculations, the space station will fly over Alberta once on the evening of Sept. 1, about 350 kilometres above Earth.
On an earlier run, the space station will be just south of Alberta at about 9:49 p.m., said Chris Peat, director of Germany-based Heavens-Above, which specializes in software development for spacecraft operations.
But a second fly-by less than two hours later will give the space station a better view of the province, said Frank Florian, an astronomer at Edmonton's Telus World of Science. It would pass over the area between Edmonton and Calgary at 11:25 p.m.
"They'll be able to see all the province of Alberta," Florian said.
The space station orbits Earth about 16 times a day.
The best scenario is if the space station is directly above Alberta, Hadfield said, adding that the station never orbits as far north as Edmonton. Capturing all the fireworks at an angle could mean some are blocked and hard to see, said Laura Rochon, a Johnson Space Center spokeswoman in Houston, Tex.
"If you are in a relatively flat area or there's no tall buildings or mountains, you might be able to see that," Rochon said.
NASA said Alberta will have to be enclosed in darkness and free of clouds over the 10 cities for the space station to pick up all the fireworks.
Hadfield, who has worked on the space station, said astronauts have seen U.S. Fourth of July fireworks from orbit.
But that's no guarantee the Alberta fireworks will be seen.
"There's a controversy whether we'll see the fireworks," said Johnson Space Center spokeswoman Kim Harle.
Both NASA and Hadfield says the fireworks will look like tiny flashes of light.
Negotiations between NASA and centennial organizers were scheduled for this week, but have been pushed back to late next week because of the shuttle Discovery's unplanned spacewalks and its delayed landing.
In the past, satellites have been able to capture pictures of forest fires from space.
"If they can see fires burning above the deserts of Australia, chances of seeing fireworks are there, but it has to be pretty dark," Florian said.
wlin@thejournal.canwest.com
© The Edmonton Journal 2005
The Edmonton Journal
Thursday, August 11, 2005
EDMONTON - When 10 Alberta cities simultaneously launch fireworks Sept. 1 to mark the province's 100th birthday, the International Space Station may have about two minutes to properly film the display, astronomers say.
The success of the proposed project depends on timing, weather conditions and the position of the space station, say NASA and Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield. "You would have to be lucky on the timing of it," said Hadfield, the first Canadian to walk in space.
"The space station flashes across Alberta very quickly."
Community Development Minister Gary Mar announced last month the province is negotiating with NASA to broadcast the display from station cameras as part of centennial celebrations.
Based on preliminary calculations, the space station will fly over Alberta once on the evening of Sept. 1, about 350 kilometres above Earth.
On an earlier run, the space station will be just south of Alberta at about 9:49 p.m., said Chris Peat, director of Germany-based Heavens-Above, which specializes in software development for spacecraft operations.
But a second fly-by less than two hours later will give the space station a better view of the province, said Frank Florian, an astronomer at Edmonton's Telus World of Science. It would pass over the area between Edmonton and Calgary at 11:25 p.m.
"They'll be able to see all the province of Alberta," Florian said.
The space station orbits Earth about 16 times a day.
The best scenario is if the space station is directly above Alberta, Hadfield said, adding that the station never orbits as far north as Edmonton. Capturing all the fireworks at an angle could mean some are blocked and hard to see, said Laura Rochon, a Johnson Space Center spokeswoman in Houston, Tex.
"If you are in a relatively flat area or there's no tall buildings or mountains, you might be able to see that," Rochon said.
NASA said Alberta will have to be enclosed in darkness and free of clouds over the 10 cities for the space station to pick up all the fireworks.
Hadfield, who has worked on the space station, said astronauts have seen U.S. Fourth of July fireworks from orbit.
But that's no guarantee the Alberta fireworks will be seen.
"There's a controversy whether we'll see the fireworks," said Johnson Space Center spokeswoman Kim Harle.
Both NASA and Hadfield says the fireworks will look like tiny flashes of light.
Negotiations between NASA and centennial organizers were scheduled for this week, but have been pushed back to late next week because of the shuttle Discovery's unplanned spacewalks and its delayed landing.
In the past, satellites have been able to capture pictures of forest fires from space.
"If they can see fires burning above the deserts of Australia, chances of seeing fireworks are there, but it has to be pretty dark," Florian said.
wlin@thejournal.canwest.com
© The Edmonton Journal 2005